Speaker 1: You know what, I've got a question for you, or
should I say I have a question for you? Which
one sounds better? Or are they both? Okay, let's find out.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight eighty six.
Have got versus have? What's the difference? Thanks for tuning
in and welcome back to the Happy English Podcast. So
here's the deal. This question came up recently in a lesson.
Oh Michael, what's the difference diference between have got and
just have? That's actually a great question, and the truth is,
for many English learners, have got can be a little confusing.
I mean, we've got I have a dog and I've
got a dog and both are correct. What's going on here? Well,
today we're going to break it all down grammar style
and how we really use this in the real world,
so you'll know exactly how and when to use have
and have got. Let's get into it. What do you
have and have got? Mean? Basically, both have and have
got mean exactly the same thing when we're talking about
three things, possession, relationships, and characteristics. For example, possession like
I have a has the same meaning as I have
got a car, relationships like she has two brothers has
the same meaning as she has got two brothers. And
characteristics like he has blue eyes has the same meaning
as he's got blue eyes. So let me say that again.
Have and have got mean the same thing here. I
have a dog and I've got a dog are both
perfectly fine. They both mean I own a dog. So
what's the difference. Well, here's where things get interesting. Have
is neutral. You can use have in any situation, formal, casual, business, writing, whatever.
But have got that's a little more casual and mostly
used in spoken English. Think of have got a shortcut
that native speakers love to use in conversation. And this
love of have got usually happens in the contracted form
like I've got, you've got, she's got, We've got, like Houston,
we've got a problem. And Alice is married and she's
got two kids in college, and I've got no time
for that meeting they want to have tomorrow. These all
sounds supernatural in spoken American English, Now, if you're writing
an essay or an email to your boss, or taking
a test like toek or ailets, go with have. But
if you're just chatting with your friends, I've got, you've got,
he's got is a great way to sound more natural.
And again, as you heard in the examples I just used,
in everyday English, have got is almost always contracted. I
have got is pronounced as I've got, she has got
is pronounced as she's got, and so on. Nobody really
says the full have got unless they're trying to emphasize
something they need to do, like we have got to
finish this project by six tonight, or I have got
to go on a diet. All of my jeans are
getting too tight. Here, you're really stressing the urgency. We
also use have got to when we make a strong suggestion,
like you have got to try that new pizza shop
it's awesome, or you have got to go to John's Farms.
They have the best apple picking this season. Otherwise, in
everyday speech, it's I've got so much to do, or
he's got two interviews this week next. What about questions
in negatives? Now here's a little grammar note. The grammar
of have and have got is slightly different when you
ask questions or make negative sentences, let me show you
what I mean. In American English, the more common and
natural sounding question is do you have a pen? This
is the standard form in everyday American conversation and it's
used across all levels of formality. Do you have the time?
Does she have any time for a meeting tomorrow? On
the other hand, have you got a pen? That's grammatically correct,
and it's still understood perfectly, but it's more common in
British English. In American English, have you got a pen?
Can sound a little old fashioned or a bit formal,
depending on the context. Native speakers in the US are
much more likely to ask like this, do you have
a pen? Or you got a pen? Which is very casual,
and it's the same with negative sentences. I don't have
any change is more common in American English than I
haven't got any change. And speaking of American English, let's
look at gotta gotta is the relaxed pronunciation of have
got to. Instead of saying I've got to finish this
project by five, we say I gotta finish this project
by five, or we gotta leave soon, are trains at seven?
Or you gotta try this cake It's amazing. Okay, let's recap.
Have got and have mean the same thing when talking
about possession, relationships, or characteristics. The contracted form of have
got is more casual and common in spoken English, like
I've got a lot of homework to do. We use
have got to when we want to emphasize what we
need to do, like I have got to get my
haircut this week. We also use have got to when
we make a strong suggestion, like you have got to
check out the new album by Stella Cole. She's amazing.
We prefer asking with do or does, like do you
have a pen? And gotta is the most casual form,
like I got to end this podcast soon. So here's
your challenge. Try using have, have got or gotta in
your own English this week. Say something like I've got
a lot on my plate today, or I gotta spend
more time learning English. And Hey, if you want to
practice the English from this and all of my podcasts
with me and a group of other awesome English learners,
come check out my podcast Learner's Study Group. We meet
once a week and go over the language from these podcasts.
Lessons together, it's a great way to build confidence and
improve your speaking. Just check the link where you are
listening to this podcast right now, or visit Myhappy English
dot com and choose podcast lesson eight eighty six for
more info. Thanks for listening, and remember, learning another language
is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here
to help you on your journey.
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